A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z All
Palkar, Apoorva
- Small Retailers' Achieving Competitive Advantage through Innovative Services
Authors
1 Department of Commerce, Maharani Lakshmi Ammanni College for Women, Bangalore, IN
2 Educational Sakal Media Group, Pacific Academy for Higher Education and Research, Udaipur, IN
Source
KHOJ: Journal of Indian Management Research and Practices, No 2015 Spl, Pagination: 36-45Abstract
The service sector has emerged as the largest and fastest growing sector of the Indian economy. Services constitute a major portion of India's GDP with a 57% share in GDP in 2013-14. Retail has a large share in the total service sector in the country. There are 14 million outlets in the country and only 4 percent of them are larger than 500 square feet in size. India has about eleven shop outlets for every thousand people. These are typically family owned and operated stores (KPMG 2014). The entry of large retailers has changed the retail landscape in India. The penetration of large retailers is expected to increase from 7.5% in 2013 to 10% in 2018 at a robust CAGR of 19-20% during the same period (Ernst&Young 2014). To meet the competition from large retailers, small retailers have adopted innovative services to attract, satisfy and retain customers.
This is an empirical research paper based on primary data collected by administering questionnaires to small food and grocery retailers in Bangalore. Information from large retailers has been collected by using an interview schedule. The study revealed that adoption of innovative services such as new customer services adopted and the technology use have facilitated small retailers achieve a competitive edge over large retailers.
The research findings will assist small retailers to understand the need for adopting innovative services to develop a competitive edge over large retailers. The study outcome will provide an insight over the debate that the entry of large retailers has impacted the survival and growth of small retailers. The limitations of the study are: it is based on the data provided by small retailers and the study is confined to Bangalore city.
Keywords
Small Retailers, Large Retailers, Innovative Services, Competitive Advantage.- Role of Innovative Practices in Growth of Women Entrepreneurs: Case Studies in Belgaum District
Authors
1 Department of Commerce, Maharani Lakshmi Ammanni College for Women, Bangalore-560012, IN
2 Educational Sakal Media Group, Pacific Academy for Higher Education and Research, Udaipur, IN
Source
KHOJ: Journal of Indian Management Research and Practices, No 2015 Spl, Pagination: 372-380Abstract
It is a well-accepted fact that in today's global environment, the key to sustainable economic development is entrepreneurial development in an economy. Findings of GEM studies reveal that there are three types of entrepreneurs: necessity entrepreneurs, opportunity entrepreneurs and innovation entrepreneurs. In developed economies there are a large number of opportunity and innovation entrepreneurs. In developing economies there are a large number of necessity entrepreneurs, whereas opportunity and innovation entrepreneurs form a negligible proportion.
In India, there are a large number of necessity entrepreneurs. Innovation entrepreneurs form an insignificant proportion of entrepreneurs in the country. Women entrepreneurship which is still in its nascent stages is largely necessity based. It is observed that the size of businesses owned by women is small in size and continues to remain small. To facilitate growth, women entrepreneurs must adopt innovative practices in the areas of operations, marketing and technology.
Growth of a business has five stages - Existence, Survival, Success - Disengage or Success -Growth, Takeoff and Resource Maturity. Most women entrepreneurs on reaching the Success stage prefer to Disengage rather than to Grow.
This paper is based on case studies research where an in-depth interview was conducted in a systematic manner to gather information on the growth of the business of a few women entrepreneurs and the factors facilitating the growth. The findings of this pilot study revealed that the most critical factor in the business reaching the Take-off or Resource Maturity stage is their ability to continually innovate and take risk. The findings of the case studies will form the basis for formulation of hypothesis and testing. The limitations of this case study method are that the findings are qualitative and cannot be generalized unless scientific analysis of data is applied using appropriate statistical measures.